Interview with Tony Tyson, Distinguished Research Professor at UC Davis in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. The interview begins with Tyson sharing stories from his childhood in southern California and his early interest in ham radio. He discusses his undergraduate studies at Stanford and his introduction to low-temperature physics. Tyson describes his graduate studies at University of Wisconsin and a fellowship at University of Chicago. He explains his thesis experiment on phase transitions and discusses having both Dave Douglas and Chandrasekhar as advisors. Tyson recalls being recruited by Bell Labs and talks about his initial work there on gravitational radiation. He describes branching out into cosmology and astrophysics and recounts his time in John Wheeler’s gravity group at the Institute for Advanced Study. Tyson reflects on the impact of CCDs and his role in their development for astronomy. Tyson also discusses the evolution of the LSST project, of which he is the founding director. Topics include site selection, funding and fundraising, and the renaming of the project for Vera Rubin. The interview concludes with Tyson sharing his hopes for the future of the field and his excitement for the new discoveries that will inevitably come from the LSST.
